THE DAEMON TEMPTS JUSTINA, WHO IS A CHRISTIAN. by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
A demon attempts to corrupt Justina, a devoted Christian woman, by calling forth spirits of desire and saturating her senses with visions and sounds of love until she abandons her faith and seeks out Cyprian, a sorcerer.
The poem
DAEMON: Abyss of Hell! I call on thee, Thou wild misrule of thine own anarchy! From thy prison-house set free The spirits of voluptuous death, That with their mighty breath _5 They may destroy a world of virgin thoughts; Let her chaste mind with fancies thick as motes Be peopled from thy shadowy deep, Till her guiltless fantasy Full to overflowing be! _10 And with sweetest harmony, Let birds, and flowers, and leaves, and all things move To love, only to love. Let nothing meet her eyes But signs of Love’s soft victories; _15 Let nothing meet her ear But sounds of Love’s sweet sorrow, So that from faith no succour she may borrow, But, guided by my spirit blind And in a magic snare entwined, _20 She may now seek Cyprian. Begin, while I in silence bind My voice, when thy sweet song thou hast began. NOTE: _18 she may]may she 1824. A VOICE [WITHIN]: What is the glory far above All else in human life? ALL: Love! love! _25 [WHILE THESE WORDS ARE SUNG,
A demon attempts to corrupt Justina, a devoted Christian woman, by calling forth spirits of desire and saturating her senses with visions and sounds of love until she abandons her faith and seeks out Cyprian, a sorcerer. The poem unfolds as a dramatic monologue — the daemon is effectively casting a spell, commanding the forces of Hell to inundate Justina's mind with romantic yearning. It concludes with a chorus proclaiming that love is the most important aspect of human existence, which is precisely the snare the daemon has laid.
Line-by-line
Abyss of Hell! I call on thee, / Thou wild misrule of thine own anarchy!
From thy prison-house set free / The spirits of voluptuous death,
That with their mighty breath / They may destroy a world of virgin thoughts;
Let her chaste mind with fancies thick as motes / Be peopled from thy shadowy deep,
Till her guiltless fantasy / Full to overflowing be!
And with sweetest harmony, / Let birds, and flowers, and leaves, and all things move / To love, only to love.
Let nothing meet her eyes / But signs of Love's soft victories;
So that from faith no succour she may borrow, / But, guided by my spirit blind
And in a magic snare entwined, / She may now seek Cyprian.
Begin, while I in silence bind / My voice, when thy sweet song thou hast began.
What is the glory far above / All else in human life?
Love! love!
Tone & mood
The tone feels almost like an incantation; it reads like a spell being spoken, with a rhythmic build-up that reflects the daemon's strategy. Beneath the beauty lies a sense of menace. The language of flowers and birdsong coexists with phrases like "voluptuous death" and "magic snare," and this contrast is intentional. Shelley crafts the daemon's voice to be smooth and persuasive rather than clearly evil, which adds to the unsettling effect. By the time the chorus sings "Love! love!", the tone shifts to something that sounds almost joyful — and that's the most disturbing moment of all.
Symbols & metaphors
- The Abyss of Hell — Hell isn't depicted as a fiery pit but rather as a realm of formless chaos — "wild misrule" and "anarchy." It embodies the breakdown of order, reason, and faith, which is precisely what the daemon aims to instill in Justina's mind.
- Spirits of voluptuous death — These spirits connect physical desire to spiritual ruin. The combination of "voluptuous" (sensual, pleasurable) with "death" suggests that the daemon views erotic longing as a tool — something that feels alive but ultimately leads to the soul's demise.
- Motes (dust particles) — The phrase "thick as motes" illustrates the daemon's intent to smother Justina—not with a single, decisive attack, but through an endless stream of subtle, unavoidable intrusions, similar to how dust gradually accumulates in a room, often unnoticed until it becomes pervasive.
- Birds, flowers, and leaves — Natural beauty is twisted to serve the daemon's purposes. These aren't innocent depictions of nature; they're instruments of manipulation, repurposed to convey a specific message. The daemon taints what is good and beautiful instead of simply replacing it with something clearly ugly.
- The magic snare — The snare is the daemon's entire scheme laid bare in one image—a trap that appears innocuous from the outside until it ensnares you. Justina won't realize she's being played; she'll simply feel herself falling in love.
- Cyprian — Cyprian is the sorcerer Justina is directed to. He serves as the final piece in the daemon's plot — the human agent who will carry out Hell's plan. His name also resonates with Cyprus, the island honoring Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
Historical context
Shelley created this piece as part of a dramatic translation and adaptation of scenes from *El mágico prodigioso* (1637), written by the Spanish Golden Age playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca. The original play tells the story of Saints Cyprian and Justina, featuring a pagan sorcerer who attempts to seduce a Christian woman, aided by a demon, but ultimately fails. Shelley worked on this translation around 1822, in the final year of his life, with publication occurring posthumously in 1824. The poem embodies Shelley's enduring interest in Platonic love, his skepticism toward organized religion, and his profound connection with European Romantic drama. In Shelley’s hands, the daemon's speech doesn’t come off as purely villainous; the beauty in the language showcases his genuine belief in love and imagination's power, even as the dramatic setting suggests that these forces can be perilous when misused.
FAQ
Justina is a devoted Christian woman inspired by a medieval legend surrounding Saints Cyprian and Justina. The daemon seeks her out because of her chastity and faithfulness—her purity makes her an enticing target for corruption. In the original tale, a sorcerer named Cyprian has fallen in love with her and has turned to demonic forces to try to win her affection.
Cyprian is a sorcerer infatuated with Justina. The daemon's scheme is to create such intense romantic desire in Justina that she forsakes her faith to seek him out. In Calderón's original legend, Cyprian ultimately converts to Christianity after the demon's plan fails, leading to the daemon's downfall.
It translates and adapts a scene from *El mágico prodigioso* (1637) by Spanish playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Shelley worked on it in 1822, and it was published posthumously in 1824. He made some changes to the original text, and the daemon's speech captures Shelley's lyrical intensity just as much as Calderón's.
It’s a compressed, paradoxical phrase: “voluptuous” refers to sensual pleasure, while “death” signifies spiritual destruction. The daemon suggests that desire — when turned against oneself — leads to a form of death for the soul. The pleasure is genuine, but so is the harm it inflicts on Justina’s faith and inner life.
Because nature has a beauty and reliability that blatant evil lacks. The daemon's approach is one of seduction, not aggression. By transforming innocent natural beauty into a continuous promotion of love, he makes the temptation seem natural and unavoidable rather than an outside threat. Justina will believe she is merely observing her surroundings.
The chorus acts like a trap set by the daemon. He has crafted the entire scene so that when the question 'What is the greatest thing in human life?' comes up, the only answer that seems right is love. The repetition and choral style evoke a hymn — that's intentional. The daemon is substituting religious devotion with a devotion to love.
That tension is both real and intentional. Shelley truly believed in the transformative power of love and imagination, themes he delved into throughout his career. The daemon's language shines with beauty because Shelley wrote about love and nature with deep conviction. While the dramatic frame criticizes the daemon's methods, the poetry itself reflects some of Shelley's own feelings for the subjects he describes.
The name brings to mind Cyprus, the Mediterranean island associated with Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess of love in classical mythology. It's unclear if Shelley intentionally chose this echo or if it was already part of Calderón's source material, but the name inherently suggests erotic desire — aligning perfectly with the daemon's purpose.